Scam Artist Posing As Ritchie Blackmore Steals $184,000 From Guitarist’s Former Classmate

A former classmate of guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore was scammed out of nearly $184,000 by someone posing as the Deep Purple founder. Over the past three years, Valerie Horwood, a terminally ill cancer patient, was conned into sending multiple Apple gift cards to someone pretending to be Blackmore. The scammer initially connected with Horwood over Facebook, and the fake Blackmore eventually began requesting money from her for fraudulent investments. “My mum is not a stupid old lady,” Horwood’s daughter Debbie said. “She was probably quite lonely. She was enjoying the chats that they were having. It is quite heartbreaking that she was sucked in.” Debbie discovered the scam when Horwood asked the family for money to pay her bills, eventually discovering her mom’s life savings had disappeared. The case is being investigated by the U.K. police, while a fundraising page has been set up to help Horwood replace her lost money. (Loudwire)